https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c en-us 2018-04-09 01:17:55 UTC 2018-06-11 04:44:20 UTC hello@padlet.com ameyers1988 https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/249610289 I'm thankful that you're requiring us to use padlet for this reflection. It's a great way to help me distinguish which class Learning Log I am doing, as I was afraid that I might mix them up. 

This class feels almost like an opposite of Instructional Methods. To be blunt, I have been sort of struggling with the readings for Module 2 as I find the language of the text boorish and grueling in an academic sense. That isn't to say I don't find it interesting, rather just not quite engaging. I'm hoping as the quarter rolls along I'll have a better grasp and understanding of what is expected and what is to be best understood. Hopefully, online discussions or the like will help clarify the themes and topics of this class going forward. I've often found the best explanations of the material from online discussions, so I hope that is the case here. ]]> 2018-04-09 01:19:44 UTC https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/249610289 ameyers1988 https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/251990024 I appreciated the opening chapters with regards to the history of evaluations as well as their impact on American governmental programs. This gave me better context for the broader topics at large regarding educational evaluation. 

 I re-read the first three chapters and I got a better feeling for them along with the assigned reading for the week. I intend to also do some reading on I-BEST due to the topic of my group. I feel somewhat under prepared for this as only two of my teammates have experience with I-BEST. This has been expressed and understood, but I still feel as if I have to run instead of walk through these next few weeks of working on this team. 

For this week I'd give myself an honest 11 or 12. A majority of our discussions on our team involved our project, rather than the readings which were touched on briefly in our initial chats. I know in the coming modules we'll have more opportunities to get in depth especially as we get to know each other better and review the future material. 

It seems that our team member's schedules are not quite in sync at times, which is understandable everyone's an adult with a job/life outside of this class. We communicated

]]> 2018-04-16 04:40:46 UTC https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/251990024 ameyers1988 https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/254241238 (4/22/18)

I have enjoyed my group's teamwork. We do click well and our zoom meeting was very productive. We are going to do those each week.  

Colleen and David certainly are very experienced in this area of study and it shows. Our group really came together this later end of the week and it was fun to see how well we clicked. 
Colleen really made this whole assignment's venture work. Her source at SCC gave us some fantastic insider language and viewpoints of how schools like SCCC operate. 

I am so excited to include my input from observing Shoreline Community College classes this upcoming week. I hope it alters my perspective about the vital assignment. 

Discussions: 
I cannot with good faith give myself a full credit on discussions overall. I involve myself with discussion on our assignment much more so than reading reflections, which is a nuanced reason why. For one, the book readings, as my group has all agreed, is dry and not very engaging in terms of personal reflection and discussion. It reads as a statement of fact, akin to a science book. Needless to say I don't think the structure of evaluation really engages our group into in-depth observations. 

Assignment discussions are much more rich, but also border on the kind of team small talk that comes naturally in the classroom ("Am I doing this right?' or "Hey guys how about this idea....") Despite the lull in responses due to our differing time availabilities, we have made our assignments work out for the best.....so far!
. ]]> 2018-04-23 04:46:47 UTC https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/254241238 ameyers1988 https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/256375415 I had some trouble understanding exactly what our assignment was but my teammates helped make it a bit clearer. I like that we can be open and honest with each other like that, and they aren't too judgemental of any questions I might have. 

My intial posts this week were negatively affected by my lack of ability to type for 4 days due to a finger injury on my thumb. While I enjoyed video posting overall, even with notes I find myself overlooking thoughts as a more "improvisational" feeling takesover when I feel recorded. Thus, I felt that my initial post left out my thoughts regarding Blunt which I did divulge on more later. 

Our discussion posts, even when discussing readings, almost always devolves into discussing our assignments. I can't really blame us for that it's sort of what is on our mind at all times, especially when we're not sure if we're sounding like an idiot when we post (my fear!). 

Colleen was the lead this week and she did a great job getting everything in order. While I know the assignment on our team is not done as I type this, we are convening soon to put the finishing touches together and I look forward to that. Next week I am the "leader" and I am nervous about doing it the right way. Sometimes it can feel like herding cats when you organize things online, but I can use the direction Colleen and Jennifer have used to get us into the right gear for this coming week.

]]> 2018-04-30 01:53:09 UTC https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/256375415 ameyers1988 https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/258404767 Well, I enjoyed the change of pace for this week's discussion. A whole new group really helped chill out my perspective and get some insights from other people in this class. This class has been different than most as I am focused and communicating primarily with my classmates for our team work, so I felt that I barely knew anyone else. This week's reflection gave me some useful takes and insights from others regarding their approach to the readings as well as what their team was aiming for. 

I was the group leader this week and I've been paranoid all week that my team will hate me. It's just sort of how I operate as a person to always think the worst of things, but I think we did a great job this week for an assignment we weren't too sure about. Our schedules clashes a bunch this week, which was made worse by my flexibility being upended by a personal, feline-related emergency that ruined any chance of a team meeting. 

If I must refer to the rubric, give myself a 10 out of 12 for my participation. I hate grading myself on anything so maybe dock me a few points out of the sake of realism. ]]> 2018-05-07 05:47:37 UTC https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/258404767 ameyers1988 https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/260664473 Apologies for the tardiness, again. Sorry about all that. This week was a super productive one for our team, despite one of our members being kicked off Canvas. But that situation is all settled down, thankfully. 

I am super happy you assigned David and Colleen to my group. We had a super productive Zoom meeting this Tuesday where we got to know each other a bit and we hit it off like we're old friends. I treasured their experience and insight and I found myself feeling better about my path and aspirations with this Masters Program. 

As I am sure Colleen mentioned, we did have some trouble getting outside people to review it. My contact never got back to me (ugh) but I think Colleen found our sources and we will have them soon. 

I'd give myself a 14 out of the scale as I think we did have a productive, condusive conversation regarding our project this week. A lack of a deeper reflection or discussion limited our talks, but we found ourselves in a great spot by last night, and I think we've got a good idea of where our project is going. Especially after seeing other teams projects, we got a solid grasp of where our evaluation is going to go. ]]> 2018-05-14 23:25:25 UTC https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/260664473 ameyers1988 https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/262275142 (5/20/2018) 
Pretty solid week in regards to our team work. Despite everyone seemingly unable to get our schedules into a decent rhythm, we did not panic at all. Thanks again for sharing the example from the previous student I think that really helped our team clarify what we were looking for with our data. Thankfully, Colleen found someone to review our tool from an expert perspective. I wish I could have met when they discussed the findings but that was somewhat the name of this week's game. 

I enjoyed the Group discussion regarding the chapter reading. It's tricky to engage with the material without making it personal, and all my team members mentioned instances of their experience with data analysis and representation. Most of us have encountered data and evaluations in our everyday life and it was funny to see others agreed with me that they are finding themselves filling out more public evaluations in their every day lives. 

I'd give myself 12 on the scale because my focus this week was off and mostly centered on the group topic. I think most everyone is sort of seeing the finishing line coming and its important to remember how my focus should lie in all places. ]]> 2018-05-21 06:14:36 UTC https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/262275142 ameyers1988 https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/263952392 (5/27/18) 
The end feels near but at the same time it feels very far off in time. Everyone seemed to be on top of their games the beginning of the week in anticipation of the weekend. I did have to do some traveling so I felt like scrambling all over to get things done before I could get out the door. Thankfully, our assignment this week was pretty straightforward for our team, and we tackled it swiftly without a sweat. Now we're beginning to divvy up the final project accordingly. Very glad to be getting ample time to organize all this stuff, but I think it'll all come together after we jump on a Zoom meeting early this week to discuss the breakdown more specifically. 

I enjoyed the readings a bit more than previous chapters. I feel that it got more into the bones of the evaluation outcomes and how they get presented. Still, it was a tricky topic to engage with on discussions because I think most of us are used to one type . of format rather than the options the book posted (loved the idea of presenting data with poetry). I'd give myself a 13 overall as I thought the conversations were certainly more engaging than last week's. Looking forward to the next one and to be getting near the finish line. ]]> 2018-05-28 06:16:52 UTC https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/263952392 ameyers1988 https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/265508475 Appreciate the time we get for the final assignment, which seems to be amassing a great deal of information all into one, nicely bow wrapped box...metaphorically speaking. My team had a productive meeting where we doled out all the appropriate responsibilities, and I am confident that we'll have this done well before Sunday. 

The budgeting chapter felt a bit oddly placed as I think it should have maybe been more efficently placed earlier, maybe in the planning areas. But it was short and to the point, and not too knee deep in stale numerical wording. I think in regards to how people like myself should approach budgeting, it's important to consider how we can leverage our power as administrators or educators in an environment to make sure the budget is distributed equitably. Sometimes budgets can fall victim to overspending or underspending, or spending on things that don't really have an impact. I suppose we need to consider how we can best influence reasonable and equitable spending when it comes to budgets for educational evaluations that we may find ourselves involved in. ]]> 2018-06-04 23:25:48 UTC https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/265508475 ameyers1988 https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/266534136 Well, the final Log. This week was both up and down. Down, as in we weren't sweating things too much and didn't feel rushed at all, which was a nice change of pace from most final weeks I've had these past two quarters for a class. My team communicated and dished out roles affectively. It all came together with plenty of time to spare. We all said our regards and I've turned it in. We're done and it feels relieving. 

This class was a bit of a challenge for me. The readings were tedious, full of dry vernacular, but still vital information that is important to understand. I found this class to be somewhat of a quasi-redux of Intro to Educational Research, getting into the bare bones of evaluations that bring about said research and data. Thus, while I found myself scratching my head at times, I felt that I still learned a lot about organizational structure and inner workings. 

This class worked well due to the group work. I covered this in my Group work reflection, but it really helped ease this whole quarter full of new information that could be overwhelming at times. I'm glad I took it and I certainly learned a great deal from my interactions with my team peers. ]]> 2018-06-11 04:36:43 UTC https://padlet.com/ameyers1988/6vat2kq8ma1c/wish/266534136